Page 53 of The Broken Aztec Princesses

‘So, he’s a prince,’I clarified. I didn’t have the budget to cater to a prince.

‘Yes, but right now, he’s your employee. Treat him as such.’

‘That’s easy to say, Cory.’

‘Technically, Karissa’s dead so is he really a prince?’he asked unhelpfully.

‘He’s of royal vampire blood. I don’t know the first thing about where to get him blood or how to meet his needs. Icould’ve really used a heads-up. Where am I supposed to put him?’

‘Sorry, Bells. I dropped the ball on this one.’

‘You better make me some empanadas the next time I see you. All of them. All the kinds.’My mouth watered at the thought and my annoyance mollified, thinking I was going to get something tasty out of this.

‘Promise.’

‘Alright, I gotta deal with this guy. Do you know him? Is he nice?’

‘I’ve only met him twice. He’s quiet, but polite.’

‘Alright. Love you, Cory.’

‘Love you, Bells.’

I walked back to the dark SUV once my conversation was over.

“Okay, there’s one stall inside the parkade that leads into the kitchen. Do you have a good hoodie to protect you? I’m afraid Cory’s dad-brain forgot to mention you were coming and I’m not prepared for you.”

“I’ll be covered. I just need a room with the windows blocked and an outlet with enough voltage to plug in my blood freezer.”

“You brought your own blood?”

“I did.”

Well, that was a relief.

“Alright, I’ll see you in the kitchen, then.” I tapped his door and turned to the guards. “Let him through.”

I hurried back to the pack house, making a plan in my head to figure out what to do with him. The pack house was full. The only empty rooms were on the alpha floor. I’d need to speak with Violet. In the kitchen, a slim man in a giant hoodie obscuring his features, pushed through the door, pulling a suitcase with a personal mini fridge on top. I guided him up to the top floor to a room close to the stairs.

“There’s an outlet you can use there. Just give me a few minutes and I’ll be right back,” I told him, running out and heading toward the tools.

I grabbed a hammer and nails and then ran to the shed and grabbed some of the wood we used last year to board up the windows. It was crude, but it would have to do.

I was running up the stairs when I heard a voice coming from the hall. I found Violet behind Chris, who had his arms at his sides, his posture rigid as he demanded Elim remove his hoodie.

“Chris! It’s okay.” I called out, quickly running to them awkwardly with the pieces of wood under my arm.

“Bells? What’s going on?” Violet asked.

“Sorry, Vi. I was going to head down to talk to you after. Elim is here at Cory’s request. He’s Aunt Kassie’s nephew. Karissa’s son.”

“Ka—Oh! That explains the hoodie,” Violet replied, and peered around Chris to look at Elim again.

“Yeah. What are you doing up here?”

“I wanted to get out of the office for a bit. My eyes were crossing with all the figures.”

“Ah. Well, while you’re here... Chris, can you help me? I need to board up his windows.”

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